I don’t know the exact source of the image above* but it caught my eye this morning. I grew up with MAD, so, yes, it is old (I guess that makes me old, too), but….
It is the sentiment of “Yes, me worry” that strikes me. (For any reader who is not “old”, Alfred E. Neuman’s saying was “What? Me worry?”) For some, worry might be warranted. Personally, I don’t want my age to be a cause for concern. I want to be confident going forward into my sixties (less than 3 months away). I want others to feel the same as they age. (Here is where I share a shameless plug for The Aging Well Podcast that I cohost with Corbin Bruton—available where you get your podcasts [e.g., Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.].) To a great degree, how we age is a matter of choice. I believe that a central consideration in growing old successfully is “well-centered fitness” (i.e., our emphasis on Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social wellness). This, of course, is the central theme of this blog.
So, how do you perceive getting old? More than likely, that will be how you age? How do you want to age? Then start making the lifestyle changes necessary to age well. Invariably, “It happens” (Forrest Gump), but how we respond to the negative stuff in our lives has a significant effect on how we survive it. We can’t affect some circumstances in our lives, but we can affect how we respond. And there are things we can do proactively to age well. In short, I would include don’t smoke (quit, if you do), get more physical activity, exercise (especially exercise that supports muscle mass), maintain a healthy body composition, eat a healthy diet, build a strong social support community, and limit or abstain from alcohol consumption.
Yes, I am old, but I am young for my age. I have goals to do things at sixty that I couldn’t do at 50, 40, and even 30. Many of these goals (personally) revolve around weight training (e.g., squatting—now favoring the Zercher squat–and deadlifting), but I also want to continue to pursue a life of kaizen Spiritually, Physically, Intellectually, Emotionally, and Socially for as long as circumstances permit.
Yes, you are old, but….
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!